My Home's Ancient Well Connects to the Martial Arts World

Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Black-Furred Dog Pup

The general store was busy all morning, but by lunchtime, the flow of customers had finally slowed. It wasn’t nearly as noisy and crowded.

”Aunt Qiao, could you watch the shop for a bit? I’m taking Qiao’Er out,” Ye Xing said. It was the lunch hour, so the shop wasn’t too busy. Aunt Qiao could handle it by herself just fine.

”Where are we going, Big Brother?” the little girl asked curiously.

”I’m taking you somewhere nice,” Ye Xing said, affectionately patting Qiao’Er’s head. ”I’m going to buy you a cute little companion to protect you!”

The Beast Taming Pavilion was located in the heart of Phoenix Street, right in the most bustling area. It was very close to Ye Xing’s shop.

The Beast Taming Pavilion was a massive organization, one of the top powers on the continent. Nearly every one of the hundreds of countries and countless cities on the Martial Arts Continent had a Beast Taming Pavilion branch. They possessed exceptionally skilled beast-taming techniques and specialized in selling Pet Demon Beasts of all ranks and varieties. Some branches in major cities, like the Imperial Capital Main City, even had Innate Realm Demon Beasts for sale. As long as you could afford the price, they could provide the Demon Beast. Their business spanned the entire Martial Arts Continent. Whether they were Martial Artists, merchants, or nobles, almost everyone had purchased a Pet Demon Beast from the Beast Taming Pavilion at some point.

Martial Artists bought Pet Demon Beasts to assist them in battle and increase their strength. Merchants and nobles, on the other hand, purchased them for personal protection. For instance, a merchant with little skill in the Martial Dao would often spend a fortune on a powerful Demon Beast for protection. This was because once a Demon Beast signed a blood contract, it would share a telepathic link with its master and show absolute loyalty. In a moment of crisis, it could often save its master from dire peril.

There were generally two ways to acquire a Demon Beast companion. The first was to rely on one’s own strength to capture one in the Demon Beast Mountain Range. This required the captor to be strong enough to defeat the Demon Beast and force it into submission. It was a risky endeavor; if the captor was too weak, they could easily be killed by the beast instead. The second method was to simply buy one from the Beast Taming Pavilion. Both approaches had their pros and cons. Companions caught in the Demon Beast Mountain Range were typically very powerful fighters. After all, they had spent their lives in a natural, dog-eat-dog environment and had plenty of real combat experience. The only drawback was the risk involved in capturing them. In contrast, the Demon Beasts from the Beast Taming Pavilion were mostly bred in captivity, so their combat strength tended to be weaker. Of course, they could still become very powerful after being tempered by a sufficient number of battles.

The little girl was too weak to protect herself. Although Ye Xing had started teaching Qiao’Er how to cultivate Inner Strength, she had only been training for a short time. It would likely take several months before she saw any significant results. Therefore, Ye Xing planned to buy a Pet Demon Beast to protect her.

The Beast Taming Pavilion was crowded with customers. Demon Beasts were kept in rows of iron cages—some were large, tiger- and leopard-type beasts, while others were smaller, dog- and cat-type beasts.

”Big Brother, Demon Beasts are really expensive. Let’s go back! We don’t have to buy one,” the little girl said, tugging on the corner of Ye Xing’s sleeve.

”Haha, we can’t afford the expensive ones right now, but we can definitely afford a Level 1 Demon Beast,” Ye Xing said with a laugh. ”Qiao’Er, first, take a look and see which Demon Beast you like, and Big Brother will buy it for you. Then you can help me pick one too. How about we each get one?”

The little girl’s eyes scanned the shop. They suddenly lit up as she pointed a small finger at a little iron cage in the corner, exclaiming happily, ”Big Brother, that Demon Beast is so cute!”

Ye Xing followed her finger with his gaze, and what he saw nearly blinded him.

There in the small iron cage in the corner sat a plump little pink rabbit. Its fur was soft, glossy, and smooth, and it was so adorable you just wanted to scoop it up for a hug. It was cute, to be sure.

”Heh, the young lady has a sharp eye! That’s a Pink Rabbit, a very cute little Demon Beast. Many wives and daughters of high officials are very fond of them,” a clerk said, running over enthusiastically to give an introduction.

’Cute? What good is cute?’ Ye Xing rolled his eyes and immediately tried to reason with the little girl. ”Qiao’Er, we’re buying a Demon Beast companion to be a powerful partner, one that will stop bad people from bullying us. If we take a little rabbit like this home, it won’t be able to help us at all. Someone might even steal the rabbit itself, you understand?”

”Oh!” The little girl nodded, though she didn’t seem to fully understand.

Ye Xing walked over to a cage holding a wolf-like Demon Beast and asked, ”How much for this one?” The beast inside was a wolf with cyan fur and sharp claws. Its eyes, in particular, glinted with a ferocious light.

”That’s a Cyan Wolf, a Second-level Demon Beast. This particular one is worth one thousand three hundred Gold Coins,” the clerk replied.

”One thousand three hundred Gold Coins!” Ye Xing touched his pocket and was left speechless. ’I really am poor.’ He only had a little over nine hundred Gold Coins in total; he really couldn’t afford a Second-level Demon Beast. The shop had been open for less than half a day and had only brought in a few hundred Gold Coins. Before opening the shop, his street stall hadn’t earned much, and after deducting daily expenses, there was hardly anything left.

”One thousand three hundred Gold Coins is a bit steep,” Ye Xing said to the clerk. ”How about this: can you recommend a couple of Level 1 Demon Beasts for me to look at, something in the three-to-five-hundred Gold Coin range?”

”In the three-to-five-hundred Gold Coin range, I do have two black-furred dog cubs. They’re only in their juvenile stage but already have the strength of a Level 1 Demon Beast. Their quality is excellent, so advancing to Level 2 in the future shouldn’t be difficult,” the clerk explained.

”Oh? How much are they exactly? Take me to see them,” Ye Xing said.

”They’re three hundred Gold Coins each. But if you buy them both together, I can give you a discount—five hundred Gold Coins for the pair,” the clerk said. He then led Ye Xing and Qiao’Er around a couple of corners to one of the iron cages.

The iron cage wasn’t large, only about half a man’s height. Inside were two small black puppies, fluffy, chubby, and quite cute. Of course, aside from their cuteness, their canine teeth also looked exceptionally sharp. A bite from those teeth would surely be an unpleasant experience.

”Sir, these two black-furred cubs may be cute, but don’t underestimate them,” the clerk said. ”They’re twins and have excellent coordination. Together, they’re a match for two Martial Artists of the Martial Arts First Realm.”

Canine Demon Beasts were, after all, smaller creatures and couldn’t compare to the ferocity of tiger- or lion-type Demon Beasts. Even though they were both considered to be at the first level of power, a Level 1 canine Demon Beast usually couldn’t defeat a human Martial Artist of the Martial Arts First Realm in a one-on-one fight. The fact that these two black cubs could take on two such Martial Artists when working together was remarkable. Add to that the fact they were still cubs with great potential, and it was no wonder they were valued at three hundred Gold Coins each.